The Servant Leadership Award recognizes homeschooled teens for exemplary community service in their local area, halfway around the world, or both! Started in 2016, this award honors students who selflessly and steadily give of their time and talents to make a difference for those who are hurting or overlooked in their time of need.

Each fall at our National Leaders Conference, HSLDA selects three students to receive $2,000 awards in appreciation of their contributions through service. The students are then invited to address the assembly of homeschool leaders from around the country.

The evident enthusiasm of these teens and the incredible impact of their work prove that they are leaders not just of tomorrow but already of today as they inspire us to go and do likewise. This is the meaning in the name, Servant Leadership Award.

HSLDA will cover all costs associated with travel and attending the first two days of the conference for the three winners and one parent each.

We will be accepting nominations for this award April 9 through May 9. Any adult may nominate a homeschooled teen between the ages of 13 and 19 years old for community service performed since April of the prior year.

If you like seeing students inspired to give back, help HSLDA Compassion continue to spread the word about what homeschool teens are doing. Your gift can help thousands of students be inspired by stories of their peers and realize how they can make a difference, no matter their age.

Below are last year’s winners. We hope their stories give you a vision for the impact young people can have.

Sydney O’Leary

Sydney O’Leary (19), Tennessee: founded Feeding the Orphans (West Africa) and its subsidiary ministry, Camp Zion (Knoxville, TN), with her family. Sydney is the public face of FTO, speaking at various engagements to spread the word about FTO, and assisting with basic needs of rural villages like providing clean drinking water, care for orphans, work-training for single mothers, and an outreach to children living at the garbage dump. She also serves as director and camp counselor for Camp Zion, working with about 1,000 at-risk children from the Knoxville area.

Christopher Kraemer (19), Minnesota: spent over 200 hours coordinating, facilitating and leading 16-week orientation classes for local churches in St Cloud to help them welcome refugees into their community. This project was entirely self-initiated on Christopher’s part after he took a class in nearby Willmar and saw the impact it made on the community’s attitude toward refugees. Instead of helping just one refugee family, he has now equipped many individuals to be the hands and feet of Jesus in St Cloud (which has a large refugee population).

Nastassia Naskov (19), Macedonia: has worked countless hours with Lighthouse of Hope, providing loving care and basic needs to very young children with special needs and attachment disorders in a state orphanage in Macedonia. Her patient, consistent work is giving these neglected children a chance to experience healing and become whole, functioning persons who can form relationships later in life, despite their difficult beginnings.